Apparatus for the recovery of copper



July 12, 1949- J F. E. RALPH 2,475,676

' APPARATUS Fon THE RECOVERY 0F COPBER `Original Filed Aug. 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS My l2, 1949. F. E. RALPH 475,7

APPARATUS FORT'HERECOVERY OF COPPER Original Filed Aug.y l, 1944 INVENTQR I francis' f.' /aAIv/l ATIORNEYS Patented .uly 12,` 17949 Francis E. Ralph, entre, Mont., assign-r man conda Copper Mining Company, a corporatonl of Montana riginal application August 1, 194'4, Seriali Nb. 547,576; Divided and this application August' 6; 1946,` SerialE No.` 688,633"

7 Claims.

This invention rela-tes toA the recovery of copper from copper-bearing mine water and has for its' object the provision of improved apparatus forA recovering the copper precipitated from mine Water oniron, usually the form of scrap steel or iron. The invention is especially concerned with the removal of particles of copper from the surfaces of theiron and their recovery from the Water in a simple and efficient operation. This application is a division of my copending application? Serial No.- 547`,576; filed- August l,v 1944, nowl abandoned.

It has been' the practice heretofore to flow the copper-bearing mine water through long? flumes or launders and in contact with scrap iron and steel placed in the launders. The iron replaces the copper in solution andthe copper is deposited in fineI granules on the surfaces of the iron. Scrap rails may be conveniently arranged in pa'rallely rows on the bottom of the` launder and? they present a large surface to the water. Even'f when the scrap has such ay favorable surface as steel rails; the removal of the copper has involved a laborious scrubbing of the surface with stili brooms. The present" invention eliminates this manual scrubbing operation and provides anV improved means for the automatic removalf ofthe precipitated copper involving the' scrubbing of the surfacel of the iron with jets of Water under velocity. In accordance with the invention; a plurality of jets of Water under a'y high velocity are directed against the iron in thelaunderin the direction of flow of water through the launder and in a progressive movement from one end of the launder to the other.

The invention provides a traveling slusher having means forV directing a plurality of high-velocityjets of water against the iron and' for automatically controlling the backward and forward travel of the slusher along the launder. In'` its more complete embodiment, the invention cornprises an elongated launder system in which the copper-bearing mine water il'ows therethrough by gravity, with settling tanks at spaced intervals, a slusher traveling along, preferably over the launder; with means for automatically controlling the backward and forward travel of the' slusher, and pump means for charging waterunder high velocity through a battery of nozzles against the iron in the launders. The copper is blasted off the surface of the iron and` slushed along: with the mine' water progressively in the direction of the flow throughy the launders and into the settlngtanks.

These and other novel features of the invention= willl be'. better' understood after considering the following discussion takeninl conjunction with*1 the accompanying drawings,

Fig; isy a'. iront elevational View, partly' in sec'- tion of apparatus embodying the invention;

Figs.. 2" and: 3f are' fragmentary views from above of` the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

,Figi 4 is a sideA elevational view, partly in section, of the apparatus'jof Fig. 1`, andAr 5 is a" fragmentary enlarged* view of the trolley apparatus;

, Tlle drawings illustrate lauldels I and. 2 formeelL of plan-king and arranged alongside' of eachy other in parallel rows; thebo't'tornsofv which are covered with any suitable f-'orm of iron-bearing rrlllatei-'lalI suc'lals discarded steel` rails 3. The launders are very long and slope downwardly so that the copper'Lbcaring` mine water will new therethrough and over and around the rails on which' the copperis precipitated. At suitable disn tantes along the' lauhders; for examplal at intervalsor 250t feet-j, settlingtanks 5vil are provided for catching and recovering the' particles ofcopper.

platform 6 is `constructedvr between the launders as a WalkwayandL as a support for the steel rail's 'li onywh'icli theV slusher lill travels back and forth` along the rails on the Wheels Ilf. The slushercoznprises a structural frame I 2 mounted on the axles ISfor the'A wheels lli The frame carries the' platform M' on which is mounted a pumpingY unit comprising anelectrick motor l5, a centrifugal pump- Il?,V a` suction or intake' con-duit H", and a discharge conduit" I8 connecting to a header l9 on each side ofy the'slusher. The headers I9 are conne'cted` by rubber' hoses 20 and' 2l to the nozzle manifolds' 272" on which arenlounted a plurality of nozzles 23 pointing downward and in the direction off ther moving stream of mine water in the laundersl The' nozzles are constructed to'direct Jflat sheets' of high..l velocity of water into' impinging Contact with the iron rails lying on" tlle" bottoms of the" launders-` The structural' fratrie I"2` carries a platform 25 onrwhich is mounted a motorized speed reducer 25" for drivingthe slusher. n order to drivev the slusher at a suitable reduced speed of aboutl 25 feet per minute, the. motor 26 drives the axle 21 through a speed reducing, system comprising. a sprocket V28, a chai-n 2.9.', sprocket 30;. shaft 3l, sprocket 32cliai1i3'3'and sprocketStt In` a space 4l! betweenthe laundersf andpreferably beneath they platform 61,. theI electrical trolley wires 41|,l 42 and. 4'3` or" a three-phase,. 250- v'olt circuit are arranged. 'Ilhe trolley apparatus 45, as best shown inf Fig. 5, comprises af car* 3 rier arm 46 supported to the frame I2 and three trolley wheels 41, 48 and 49 which are pressed into Contact with the trolley wires by the spring actuated arms 50. The electricity is carried up the arm 4S to the pump motor I6 and drive motor 26.

In order to provide a convenient source of water to be discharged out of the nozzles, a small trough 55 is constructed along one side of one of the launders and opening means (not shown) are provided at the head end oi the launder for diverting a part of the mine water through the trough. The suction or intake conduit I1 for the pump dips into the water in the trough. Advantageously, this suction conduit comprises a lateral supporting pipe portion and a depending portion carrying the hose 58, the lower end of which is submerged into water. In order to aid in securing a suitable supply of water in the trough, a wooden float 6U is mounted in the trough and supported on the slusher by means of the arm 6I and adjustable depending rod 62. This wooden float serves as a dam near the 1intake of the hose 58, insuring a constant supply of mine water for the pump.

rThe slusher is constructed and arranged for automatic operation and when it reaches the end of its travel along the launders a reversing switch 65 of the customary type engages a trip `66 which operates the switch reversing the :rotation of the motor 26 and the slusher travels in the opposite direction. When the slusher again reaches the end of its travel, it engages another reversing trip and is started back in the opposite direction.

During use of the new apparatus, copperbearing mine Water flowing under the action of gravity through the downwardly sloping launders deposits its copper in the form of fine granules on the surfaces of the iron rails.

The mine water pumped out of the trough 55 is charged against the surface of the rails in a plurality of jets tcblast the particles of copper from the surface and carry them along in suspension in the mine water to the settling tanks wherein they are deposited and removed from time to time. A very effective scouring of the iron may be accomplished by charging the jets of water through the nozzles at a velocity of somewhere around 60 to 85 feet per second. This is most effectively done by using flattened nozzles of the type illustrated in the drawings which direct sheets of water into impinging contact with the rails. Such velocities may be accomplished by pumping the Water through the nozzles under the pressure ranging from' 25 to 50 pounds per square inch. The nozzles are positioned to direct the jets of Water downwardly into impinging contact with the iron and in the direction of flow of mine water through the launders. the same direction for both the upward and downward travel of the slusher and the jets of water aid in slushing the particles of copper along in the direction of flow to the settling tanks.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for recovering the copper precipitated on iron from copper-bearing mine water which comprises a long narrow downwardly sloping launder, said launder being adapted to contain the iron and to carry a owing stream of mine water in contact therewith, a slusher arranged to travel along the launder, means for driving the slusher back and forth along the launder, a plurality of nozzles carried The nozzles discharge the water in` 4 by the slusher, said nozzles being directed downwardly toward the iron and in the direction of flow of mine water through the launder, and means for directing jets of high velocity water through the nozzles and against the iron to dis lodge the copper.

2. Apparatus for recovering the copper precipitated on iron from copper-bearing mine water which comprises a long narrow downwardly sloping launder, said launder being adapted to contain the iron and to carry a iowing stream of mine water in contact therewith, a slusher arranged to travel along the launder, means for driving the slusher back and forth al-ong the launder, a plurality of nozzles carried by the slusher, said nozzles being directed downwardly toward the iron and in the direction of flow of mine water through the launder, pump means carried by the slusher for forcing jets of high velocity water through the nozzles and against the iron to dislodge the copper.

3. Apparatus for recovering the copper precipitated on iron from copper-bearing mine Water which comprises a long narrow downwardly sloping launder, said launder being adapted to contain the iron and to carry a flowing stream of mine water in contact therewith, a slusher arranged to travel along the launder, means for driving the slusher back and forth along the launder, a plurality of nozzles carried by the slusher, said nozzles being directed downwardly toward the iron and in the direction of flow of mine water through the launder, pump means on the slusher, means for conveying mine water to the pump means, and means for directing mine water from the pump means through the nozzles and against the iron to dislodge the copper.

4. Apparatus for recovering the copper precipitated on iron from copper-bearing mine water which comprises at least one long narrow downwardly sloping launder, said launder being adapted to contain the iron and to carry a owing stream of mine water in contact therewith, a settling tank adapted to receive mine water from the launder, rails forming a track along said launder, a slusher traveling on said rails, electric power means for driving the slusher along the rails, an electric circuit for supplying the power means, switch means for automatically reversing the direction of travel of the slusher at the ends of the launder, whereby the slusher continuously travels back and forth along the launder, pump means carried by the slusher, means for supplying the pump means with mine water, and a plurality of nozzles carried by the slusher and connected to the pump means for charging jets of high velocity mine water against the iron, said nozzles being directed downwardly against the iron and in the direction of the ow of mine water through the launder, whereby the particles of dislodged copper are carried into the settling tank.

5. Apparatus for recovering copper precipitated on iron from copper-bearing water comprising a downwardly sloping launder, said launder being adapted to contain said iron and to carry a owing stream of said copper-bearing water in contact therewith, and a slusher arranged to travel along said launder comprising a carriage, a pump mounted on the carriage, means for supplying water to the pump, nozzles supported from the carriage and directed toward the iron in the launder, said nozzles being directed downwardly and in the direction of flow of the copper-bearing water through the launder, and a conduit connecting the pump and nozzles, whereby water under pressure may be delivered by the pump to the nozzles and jets of high velocity water may be directed from the nozzles against the iron in the launder to dislodge precipitated copper particles therefrom.

6. Apparatus of the character described, com prising a downwardly sloping launder adapted to contain a load of iron and to carry a flowing stream of copper-bearing water in contact with said iron, a sluslrer arranged to travel along the launder, nozzles for directing jets of high velocity water against the iron in the launders, a pump mounted on the slusher for delivering water under pressure to the nozzles, and means for supplying water to the pump comprising a trough partitioned from the launder, a pump intake conduit extending into the trough, and a block supported in the trough from. the carriage downstream with respect to the pump intake and serving to block the trough sufficiently to dam up a pool of water about the pump intake.

7. Apparatus of the character described, cornprising a pair of parallel downwardly sloping launders each adapted to contain a load of iron and to carry a owing stream of copper-bearing water in contact with said iron, a carriageway between the launders, a carriage arranged to travel on said carriage-way along the launders,

a pump on the'carriage, nozzles supported from each side of the carriage and directed both downstream and against the iron in each launder, and a conduit for conveying water under pressure from the pump to the nozzles, whereby jets of high velocity water .may be directed against the iron in each launder to dislodge copper particles precipitated thereon..

FRANCIS E. RALPH.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,007,439 Flaccus Oct. 31, 1911 1,456,464 Rolland May 22, 1923 1,720,332 Kehoe July 9, 1929 1,753,015 McGregor Apr. 1, 1930 2,023,841 Kingsbury Dec. 10, 1935 2,247,433 Bolton July 1, 1941 2,249,130 Gunther July 15, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 384,418 Great Britain Dec. 8, 1932 

